- 12:07 pm
- Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
- The business for the week commencing 24 November will include:Monday 24 November—Remaining stages of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (day one).Tuesday 25 November—Remaining stages of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (day two).Wednesday 26 November—My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer will deliver her Budget statement.Thursday 27 November—Continuation of the Budget debate.Friday 28 November—The House will not be sitting.The provisional business for the week commencing 1 December includes:Monday 1 December—Continuation of the Budget debate.Tuesday 2 December—Conclusion of the Budget debate.Wednesday 3 December—Remaining stages of the Pension Schemes Bill.Thursday 4 December—Debate on a motion on the war in Ukraine, followed by a general debate on St Andrew’s day. The subjects for these debates were determined by the Backbench Business Committee.Friday 5 December—The House will not be sitting.
- May I start by recording my thanks to the Leader of the House for agreeing to the request to have the Ukraine debate on 4 December? I think we all feel warmly about that decision.Politics at the present moment may not be enormously pretty, but it has been a week of triumph in the sporting world. We have had the joyous mayhem of Scotland reaching their first world cup for 28 years, but let us not forget the extraordinary thumping that the England rugby team dealt out to the All Blacks at the weekend or the perfect world cup qualification record of our English footballers. In that spirit, I hope many Members—if perhaps not all—will join me in sending our best wishes to the England cricket team as they prepare for the opening test in Perth tomorrow.This has been another week in which the headlines have not been kind to the Government and their allies. They have reported that the Prime Minister has spent a sixth of his time in office abroad. That is two and a half months to date spent outside the UK since the last election. Half of all UK jobs lost since the Government came to power are among the under-25s. That is 80,000 more young people out of work since July 2024. Agency staff brought into work during Birmingham’s eight-month-long bin strike by members of Unite have now themselves decided to go on strike. The former Deputy Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner), is reported to be planning a leadership bid, following last week’s speculation about the Health Secretary and last month’s unfortunate foray by the Mayor of Manchester. Since Labour took office, the energy price cap has not fallen but risen by £187 to £1,755.I often wonder if the Government have forgotten that there is a world outside London and our biggest cities. In that spirit, I hope I may raise a couple of important issues on which I would be grateful for the assistance of the Leader of the House. The first is local. Last weekend, the village of Ewyas Harold in my constituency was devastated by flooding as a result of Storm Claudia. The village was inundated after record levels of rainfall flooded the Dulas brook, with water levels rising to the highest ever recorded by the monitoring station. The emergency services were called out to help vulnerable residents and houses, and local pubs and other businesses were severely damaged. Many local people have been involved in clearing up the mess—in particular the brilliant young farmers club—but it will take months for the village to fully get back on its feet.
- I thank the shadow Leader of the House for his questions. Can I first, through you, Madam Deputy Speaker, thank Mr Speaker for his timely reminder this week of our responsibilities in this House regarding national security? As the House will know, the Security Service issued an espionage alert to Parliament, highlighting targeted outreach by the Chinese Ministry of State Security to individuals in our community. This is a serious matter that the Government take very seriously, and I know that Mr Speaker does too. I urge all MPs to heed the advice and to report any suspicious activity immediately.Next week is Parliament Week, when we encourage young people and the public to engage with the UK’s democratic systems and institutions. In that spirit, I was delighted yesterday to meet children from East Hunsbury primary school, after my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton South (Mike Reader) mentioned them during a business questions earlier this year. The school has won the kind school award, and it was a great pleasure to meet the children. They are a credit to their school, to their parents and, most of all, to themselves. They are a reminder to us all of the importance of being kind. You will be pleased to know, Madam Deputy Speaker, that I have been made an honorary kindness ambassador—[Laughter.] I have to say, that is an honour that I never received during my time as Chief Whip.I was pleased to announce in this week’s business that the Backbench Business Committee has chosen Ukraine as the subject for its debate on 4 December. I thank the shadow Leader of the House, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Bobby Dean), and the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex (Sir Bernard Jenkin) for their representation to help secure the debate.Members will welcome the publication of the men’s health strategy this week. It is an important topic that has been raised frequently during business questions. The strategy will address the stark inequality in men’s health to create a society where men and boys are supported to live healthier and happier lives. I encourage Members to contribute in the debate later, on International Men’s Day.
- The speedy passage of environmental legislation through this House is not often a feature, so I thank the Leader of the House for the speedy way in which the biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction treaty was dealt with by the Government. In contrast, I remind him that in 2023 our party said that we would bring forward legislation for a new clean air Act. I have no doubt that the Leader of the House is thinking about what may be going into the King’s Speech next year. Given that it will be the 70th anniversary of the original Clean Air Act 1956, could he put this forward as something to be looked at to ensure that we meet World Health Organisation standards?
- I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his comments. The biodiversity treaty is an important step forward, and I thank him for all the work he is doing in this regard. The Government are committed to environmental improvement. Although I expect that the second Session will be quite crowded, I will certainly bear in mind his comments.
- I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
- I join the Leader of the House in thanking Mr Speaker for the seriousness with which he is taking Chinese interference in our democracy. I represent many Hongkongers in my constituency, and they are deeply concerned about this issue.It was a relief to hear confirmation that the Budget will be taking place on the Floor of the House next week. I am sure it is also a huge relief to advisers in the Treasury, who have just days before they start leaking the 2026 Budget. One thing that people will be looking out for in the Budget next week is the provisions that will be made for children with special educational needs and disabilities. I am fully aware that this is a crisis that was inherited by this Government, but it was not an unforeseen crisis. Eighteen months into this Government, we hear that their major reform plans have been pushed back again, which is a disappointment to us on the Liberal Democrat Benches. We are seeing councils go bankrupt, teachers in despair and families held in legal limbo—and ultimately, children being failed.I appreciate that there are some really tricky issues to resolve—balancing legal entitlements on paper with quality provision in reality, and adjusting to a world with higher diagnosis rates—but there are some actions that the Government could take right away, in particular in relation to private placements. Those have trebled in the past decade, and they cost more than double a state placement—about £60,000. We know that private equity is really aggressive in this space; it is taking on institutions and eating up market share, and its profit margins are reportedly around 20%. In the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the Government introduced the idea of profit caps on those who are being exploitative in the children’s social care sector. Will the Leader of the House ask the relevant Minister whether that can be extended to SEND schools?
- The hon. Gentleman is right to express concern about the SEND system. The Government have acknowledged that it is broken; it does not work for parents or children. He is also right to say that there were signs that things were not as they should be, but this is one of the many issues that, when we came into government, we discovered was even worse than we had anticipated. I will not comment on what might or might not be in the Budget, but I gently point out that we have already invested an additional £1 billion in SEND and we are creating more specialist places in mainstream schools, with an additional £740 million on top of the £1 billion.We will bring forward the schools White Paper early next year, and the hon. Gentleman may wish to keep some of his suggestions for that, or perhaps secure a debate on it in order to give further clarity to what he is saying. I know that this issue is frustrating, including for our constituents, but we need to work with parents and teachers, and the most important thing is that we get it right.
- On that note, the number of constituents who have contacted me since my election to raise difficulties and delays in the SEND system is staggering. I asked constituents to fill in my online SEND survey so that they could feed into the Government’s schools White Paper, and I have had 250 responses, which shows the extent of the problem. Will the Leader of the House join me in thanking those parents in Kettering and across the country who are feeding in their experiences to this Government’s mission to fix the broken system we inherited?
- I am very pleased to do that. I thank everyone who has responded to my hon. Friend’s survey. That is one of the very best ways of getting information from parents, and the scale of the responses demonstrates the scale of the problems in the system. I pay tribute to her for the work that she has done on this issue. As I said, we are committed to creating a SEND system that truly works for children and parents, and I am sure that her constituents’ comments will be reflected as the White Paper comes forward.
- I call the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee.
- I thank the Leader of the House for announcing the business for 4 December in the Chamber. I understand that the House may be suspended for a period on that day because of a state visit, so will he give consideration to protected time for those two very heavily subscribed debates? Will he also indicate whether we will get time in the Chamber on 11 December? Our backlog of debates is such that if we had every Thursday between now and the Easter recess, we could fill every single one. I note that the House rose very early yesterday. If the Government are having a problem with business, we can always put on debates to allow colleagues from the Back Benches to debate what they wish to debate in Government time. If we are given Thursday 18 December, it will be the traditional pre-recess Adjournment debate for Christmas.Our forthcoming business in Westminster Hall is as follows. On Tuesday 25 November, there will be a debate on the potential impact of immigration reforms on humanitarian visa routes. On Thursday 27 November, because of the Budget debate in the main Chamber, there will be a Select Committee statement from the Business and Trade Committee, followed by debates on the impact of extended producer responsibility for packaging and on protecting children from domestic abuse. On 2 December, there will be a debate on the adequacy of funding to support homeless people, and on 4 December, there will be a debate on a comprehensive acquired brain injury action plan, followed by a debate on seafarers’ welfare.Today is the 80th anniversary of the start of the Nuremberg trials. Earlier this week we had a very good briefing at the all-party parliamentary group for the Holocaust memorial and education centre from Adam Wagner, a renowned human rights lawyer. Twenty-four Nazis were put on trial, and the trial lasted 11 months. At the end of it, 22 of them were sentenced to either very long prison sentences or death; amazingly enough, two were acquitted. It would be very helpful if we could have a statement from the Education Secretary on incorporating the business of the Nuremberg trials into the national curriculum, because this was the first time that human rights law started to come to the fore, particularly on war crimes and crimes against humanity. Could the Leader of the House arrange for that to happen?
- I welcome the hon. Gentleman back to his place and thank him for raising those important matters. The Nuremberg trials marked a reassertion of justice, human rights and accountability, and their 80th anniversary is a stark reminder of the need to commit to international criminal justice. That is one of the Government’s top priorities in supporting the international legal order. I will give consideration to what he says about a statement, but will also make sure that the Secretary of State for Education is aware of his comments.I will certainly give consideration to the hon. Gentleman’s request for protected time; he knows that I am sympathetic to that. I do not think it is appropriate on every occasion, but I am sympathetic to it should the House be suspended for any reason. I will let him know about 11 December at the earliest opportunity. Yes, this week has been a little up and down in terms of sitting hours, with the debates and statements that we have had. It is always slightly difficult to get a balance, but let me say gently that it is not a problem for the Government and their business; it is a problem for the Opposition. If they cannot turn up in numbers to hold the Government to account, what are they doing?
- Nearly two thirds of the land in our country is owned by a handful of aristocrats, oligarchs and bankers, who often hide their wealth in trusts, and corporations, which never die. May we have a debate on how we might raise more revenue from those ultra-rich landowners, and so afford some more generous proposals on agricultural property relief for the farmers who are essential for our food security, nature restoration and climate action?
- I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that issue and join him in acknowledging the vital work that farmers do, which is one of the reasons why we are investing £5 billion over two years in the farming budget. I am not going to pre-empt the Budget, but I am sure that he will wish to amplify those points during the four days of debate on the Budget that I have just announced.
- Brain Tumour Research states that one in three people are likely to know someone with a brain tumour; they could be our friends, family or constituents. Brain tumours are a cruel disease, and yet drug development and research has stagnated, denying patients access to lifesaving treatment. Will the Leader of the House allow a debate in Government time on the need for immediate investment to improve brain tumour research and outcomes?
- I invite the hon. Gentleman to request an Adjournment debate or a Backbench Business debate, because I think that would illustrate not just how many constituents, but how many of us personally—or our family and friends—have been affected by brain tumours, which can have terrible consequences. The Government are absolutely committed to doing as much as they can in this regard, not least through the 10-year health plan. A debate would be a great opportunity not just to hear about the problem, but to hear about what the Government intend to do about it.